Funding Milestone for Ocean City Affordable Housing Project

By MADDY VITALE The Ocean City Housing Authority has spent the last few years creating upgraded affordable housing units, from construction of a new building to renovating another. In December, the OCHA received an official approval letter for financing from the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, or NJHMFA, for another project. The exact amount of financing still must be determined. The housing authority will work with an investor as well as the city to lock in the funding. “The project is moving along in a positive direction,” Jacqueline Jones, the authority’s executive director, said in an interview Friday. “The HMFA has given its endorsement for the project, and it is working with an investor for tax credits to help finance part of the project." She added that the city, which has worked with the authority to help fund affordable housing in Ocean City, may also help to fund the project along with other entities. Speitel Commons, at Sixth Street and West Avenue, replaced the authority’s Pecks Beach Village senior-citizen complex on the north side of Fourth Street in 2021. The senior-citizen housing section of Pecks Beach Village dated to the 1960s and has since been demolished. Bayview Manor, another housing authority complex next door to Speitel Commons, has been undergoing a major facelift, from a fresh exterior to an ongoing project to update the interior. Now, the housing authority is in the planning stage to create a new project to replace the drab, outdated 40 affordable housing units at the remaining section of Pecks Beach Village on Fourth Street. In April 2022, demolition commenced on the former senior-citizen housing complex at Pecks Beach Village. In addition, there will be 20 more new units built as part of the plan. The project will be located where the former senior-citizen complex at Pecks Beach Village once stood on the north side of Fourth Street. The existing family housing part of Pecks Beach Village, on the south side of Fourth Street, will be demolished after the new project is completed, housing authority officials have said. The family housing project is in its initial planning stages, including lining up the funding sources, design and other aspects of the preliminary work. An informal meeting with the Ocean City Planning Office is to be scheduled prior to a formal presentation on the project to the Planning Board. The presentation is anticipated for some time in February. Early estimates place the cost of the project at between $22 million and $23 million. Construction could potentially begin in 2023 and take about 14 to 18 months to complete, a housing authority consultant said. City Councilman Bob Barr, who also serves as chairman of the housing authority board, said of the latest project to improve housing for residents in Ocean City, “Any time we get any help financially, it certainly helps. I was hoping it would be on the board agenda soon.” He noted that more information may be available by the next housing authority meeting on Jan. 17. The project will help Ocean City meet its state-mandated obligation to provide its “fair share” of affordable housing under a court settlement in 2018. For more information about the Ocean City Housing Authority visit http://www.oceancityha.org Speitel Commons is the newest of the Ocean City Housing Authority buildings that offer affordable living for residents.